Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Collaboration still is worth celebrating
It occurred to me as everyone was celebrating our nation's independence today 10 days ago that it would have three months exactly since we should have been celebrating something else noble — collaboration. Alas, Collaboration Fest was the first of Colorado's great beer events felled by coronavirus — a list that, sadly, stretches all the way now to include the Great American Beer Festival as we've known it.
But one of the oddly positive things to come out of this time of isolation has been the slow rollout of collaboration beers. followed by an extended shelf life that's left a few of them available still. And it is to that effort that today's retrospective/perspective column is dedicated — a look at a select number of the great collaborations this year that you should either buy or tell your favorite breweries to make again soon.
Strange Times — Strange Craft Beer/Argonaut Wine & Liquor
This barrel-aged baltic porter was of the best and simultaneously most dangerous kind — a beer that churns with complex flavors yet doesn't appear to be anywhere as boozy as it actually is. Dark, roasty and chocolatey with just the right amount of bitterness, it's so easy to enjoy that you can put down four cans of it without ever stopping to take a photo ...
Strawberry Shortcake Pastry Sour — Crooked Stave/Molly's Spirits
In lesser hands, this beer could have been a juicy fruit bomb with an abnormally glowing red/pink body. Instead, it meshes all of its attributes beautifully, letting its fruit bring the sweetness, its yeast give it just a prick of sour that doesn't detract from its core taste and some wonderful brewing leave it with a backtaste of dough, as if you've just drank a tart-ish piece of cake.
The Odyssey of Flyte — Odyssey Beerwerks/FlyteCo Brewing
Every year among the bold and crazy creations that headline Collaboration Fest, one finds the almost subtle beer that you want to drink over and over again — and this beer allowed you to do just that as coronavirus shifted its production into cans. Classic in its Belgian feel, it put forth a slightly sharp, sweet taste but also a big body that heightened its drinkability, ending with tang of bitterness that made you feel you'd flown around the taste world in 12 ounces.
Jungle Rush — Westfax Brewing/Finkel & Garf
Sure, "fruited sour hazy IPA" sounded like a gimmick that was a milkshake short of a full trend house. But after a burst of orange-pineapple nose, the hops really did take over with a wonderful bitterness that stood up and complimented the citrus fruit well. Both bold and eerily subtle, it evolved as you drank it, giving you a run through a lot of techniques that all were impressive.
Strat Boy — Cannonball Creek/Pizza Port Carlsbad
While not the world's most interesting beer, these auteurs managed to make a hoppy American pilsner that also was not boring - and in doing so, created what could have been the summer sipper of the batch. Its defining characteristic was its crispness, and the surrounding bitterness helped to lay that quality down and make sure that there was something more going on in a simple creation.
Barrel Conspiracy: Mr. Sandman — River North Brewery/Molly's Spirits
As far as ambitious beers go, this bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout with orange and chocolate had few peers, at least among the beers found in the Denver area in the months following what would have been the festival. Maybe the 12.8% ABV was a little too much for its own good. But the nose itself was the single most impressive aroma of a beer that has debuted this year, launching you into a world of candy and creativity that did not overstep the boundaries of sweetness, presumably because of its notable booze.
The Cure — Brewery Rickoli/Over Yonder Brewing
Not just the most appropriately named beer for a coronavirus-cancelled festival, this West Coast double IPA showed off a subtle touch from two overlooked breweries in Denver's western suburbs. Clean, classically hoppy and full of pine and dandelions, it recalled an earlier time in brewing, both before coronavirus and before the idea of collaborations.
Strangely Epic — Strange Craft Beer/Epic Brewing
This is not the first time the two Denver breweries have combined their signature beers to make a seemingly head-scratching whiskey-barrel-aged coffee cherry stout, but it has never seemed to blend so appropriately. Darker than night and scented heavily with coffee, it allowed the cherry to come through just strongly enough that it added a unique dimension to the featured taste in a warming, enveloping stout. Ask for seconds this winter; this is what a cold-weather nightcap should be.
But one of the oddly positive things to come out of this time of isolation has been the slow rollout of collaboration beers. followed by an extended shelf life that's left a few of them available still. And it is to that effort that today's retrospective/perspective column is dedicated — a look at a select number of the great collaborations this year that you should either buy or tell your favorite breweries to make again soon.
Strange Times — Strange Craft Beer/Argonaut Wine & Liquor
This barrel-aged baltic porter was of the best and simultaneously most dangerous kind — a beer that churns with complex flavors yet doesn't appear to be anywhere as boozy as it actually is. Dark, roasty and chocolatey with just the right amount of bitterness, it's so easy to enjoy that you can put down four cans of it without ever stopping to take a photo ...
Strawberry Shortcake Pastry Sour — Crooked Stave/Molly's Spirits
In lesser hands, this beer could have been a juicy fruit bomb with an abnormally glowing red/pink body. Instead, it meshes all of its attributes beautifully, letting its fruit bring the sweetness, its yeast give it just a prick of sour that doesn't detract from its core taste and some wonderful brewing leave it with a backtaste of dough, as if you've just drank a tart-ish piece of cake.
The Odyssey of Flyte — Odyssey Beerwerks/FlyteCo Brewing
Every year among the bold and crazy creations that headline Collaboration Fest, one finds the almost subtle beer that you want to drink over and over again — and this beer allowed you to do just that as coronavirus shifted its production into cans. Classic in its Belgian feel, it put forth a slightly sharp, sweet taste but also a big body that heightened its drinkability, ending with tang of bitterness that made you feel you'd flown around the taste world in 12 ounces.
Jungle Rush — Westfax Brewing/Finkel & Garf
Sure, "fruited sour hazy IPA" sounded like a gimmick that was a milkshake short of a full trend house. But after a burst of orange-pineapple nose, the hops really did take over with a wonderful bitterness that stood up and complimented the citrus fruit well. Both bold and eerily subtle, it evolved as you drank it, giving you a run through a lot of techniques that all were impressive.Strat Boy — Cannonball Creek/Pizza Port Carlsbad
While not the world's most interesting beer, these auteurs managed to make a hoppy American pilsner that also was not boring - and in doing so, created what could have been the summer sipper of the batch. Its defining characteristic was its crispness, and the surrounding bitterness helped to lay that quality down and make sure that there was something more going on in a simple creation.
Barrel Conspiracy: Mr. Sandman — River North Brewery/Molly's Spirits
As far as ambitious beers go, this bourbon-barrel-aged imperial stout with orange and chocolate had few peers, at least among the beers found in the Denver area in the months following what would have been the festival. Maybe the 12.8% ABV was a little too much for its own good. But the nose itself was the single most impressive aroma of a beer that has debuted this year, launching you into a world of candy and creativity that did not overstep the boundaries of sweetness, presumably because of its notable booze.
The Cure — Brewery Rickoli/Over Yonder Brewing
Not just the most appropriately named beer for a coronavirus-cancelled festival, this West Coast double IPA showed off a subtle touch from two overlooked breweries in Denver's western suburbs. Clean, classically hoppy and full of pine and dandelions, it recalled an earlier time in brewing, both before coronavirus and before the idea of collaborations.
Strangely Epic — Strange Craft Beer/Epic Brewing
This is not the first time the two Denver breweries have combined their signature beers to make a seemingly head-scratching whiskey-barrel-aged coffee cherry stout, but it has never seemed to blend so appropriately. Darker than night and scented heavily with coffee, it allowed the cherry to come through just strongly enough that it added a unique dimension to the featured taste in a warming, enveloping stout. Ask for seconds this winter; this is what a cold-weather nightcap should be.
Labels: Brewery Rickoli, Cannonball Creek Brewing, collaboration beers, Crooked Stave, Epic Brewing, Finkel & Garf Brewing, FlyteCo Brewing, Molly's Spirits, Odyssey Beerwerks, River North Brewery, Strange Craft Beer
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Beer at a Fair? That's More Than Fair.
County fairs are wonderful places. Kids can get in touch with animals, you can share carnival rides with them (the kids, not the animals) and there is more wonderful deep-fried food than the inventor of the deep fryer ever dreamt could be fattened up.
For too long, though, these light-hearted, lazy-day events that take place under the summer sun have been without the element that clearly they were made to hold hands with - good beer. Luckily, though, the organizers of several front-range fairs have seen fit to change that in recent years.
The Denver County Fair, which went down this last weekend, held a festival with 27 beers, from big names like Oskar Blues to quality little guys like Brewery Rickoli. And if you missed that, the Arapahoe County Fair will put on two of its own suds shows - a craft-brew festival at 5 p.m. Friday and a festival featuring the homebrews entered into the judging competition at noon Saturday.
Lindsay Bagby, Arapahoe County Fair Coordinator, admitted recently that she didn't know how the public would react the first time that drinking beer became a sanctioned part of the traditionally agricultural showcase a few years back. About 150 folks paid the first year to try beer from about 30 breweries, though, and the response was good.
This year, there will be just 16 craft breweries pouring, but 80 percent of them hail from within the county, according to fair assistant Lindsey Friend. Those range from Colorado mainstays like Dry Dock Brewing and Copper Kettle to relative newcomers like Pilothouse and Welcome Home Brewing. And some 450 people are expected to attend, testifying to the appropriateness of a beer festival at a Colorado fair.
And then there's Saturday's event - 12 homebrewers who worked closely with the Colorado State University Extension Office to make beers for a judging competition will pour their beer for a ticketed event that is the equivalent of the pie-judging contest - except that visitors get to enjoy the creations. This is a fantastic idea that allows folks to discover someone who, if they aren't ready to open their own place, will at least get the thrill of serving the beer like they would in a taproom, but without a six-figure investment.
No, this isn't the Great American Beer Festival in terms of variety or originality (though festival goers on Friday night will get to select a People's Choice winner of the event, which hasn't happened at the GABF since Ronald Reagan was president). But it is a great example of how beer drinking has become so imbued in the Colorado culture that it truly is something to be celebrated and enjoyed by a community rather than just at a bar.
"I think a lot of people are trying to get creative with what's upcoming, what's fresh, what's new. We're always looking for something new to add to fairs," Bagby said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It all just depends on the crowd."
Count this guy as one who thinks this really does work. And it's time to raise a glass to the people willing to try such ideas.
County fairs are wonderful places. Kids can get in touch with animals, you can share carnival rides with them (the kids, not the animals) and there is more wonderful deep-fried food than the inventor of the deep fryer ever dreamt could be fattened up.
For too long, though, these light-hearted, lazy-day events that take place under the summer sun have been without the element that clearly they were made to hold hands with - good beer. Luckily, though, the organizers of several front-range fairs have seen fit to change that in recent years.
The Denver County Fair, which went down this last weekend, held a festival with 27 beers, from big names like Oskar Blues to quality little guys like Brewery Rickoli. And if you missed that, the Arapahoe County Fair will put on two of its own suds shows - a craft-brew festival at 5 p.m. Friday and a festival featuring the homebrews entered into the judging competition at noon Saturday.
Lindsay Bagby, Arapahoe County Fair Coordinator, admitted recently that she didn't know how the public would react the first time that drinking beer became a sanctioned part of the traditionally agricultural showcase a few years back. About 150 folks paid the first year to try beer from about 30 breweries, though, and the response was good.This year, there will be just 16 craft breweries pouring, but 80 percent of them hail from within the county, according to fair assistant Lindsey Friend. Those range from Colorado mainstays like Dry Dock Brewing and Copper Kettle to relative newcomers like Pilothouse and Welcome Home Brewing. And some 450 people are expected to attend, testifying to the appropriateness of a beer festival at a Colorado fair.
And then there's Saturday's event - 12 homebrewers who worked closely with the Colorado State University Extension Office to make beers for a judging competition will pour their beer for a ticketed event that is the equivalent of the pie-judging contest - except that visitors get to enjoy the creations. This is a fantastic idea that allows folks to discover someone who, if they aren't ready to open their own place, will at least get the thrill of serving the beer like they would in a taproom, but without a six-figure investment.
No, this isn't the Great American Beer Festival in terms of variety or originality (though festival goers on Friday night will get to select a People's Choice winner of the event, which hasn't happened at the GABF since Ronald Reagan was president). But it is a great example of how beer drinking has become so imbued in the Colorado culture that it truly is something to be celebrated and enjoyed by a community rather than just at a bar.
"I think a lot of people are trying to get creative with what's upcoming, what's fresh, what's new. We're always looking for something new to add to fairs," Bagby said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It all just depends on the crowd."
Count this guy as one who thinks this really does work. And it's time to raise a glass to the people willing to try such ideas.
Labels: Arapahoe County breweries, Brewery Rickoli, Copper Kettle Brewing, Dry Dock Brewing, Fairs, homebrewers, Oskar Blues, Pilothouse Brewing, Welcome Home Brewing
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Riding the G Line of Beer
It's been two months now since the Regional Transportation District opened the G Line, extending from Wheat Ridge through Arvada and into Denver Union Station. Many people likely haven't experienced the ride yet. And that is a mistake — particularly from a beer perspective.
Urban dwellers may not realize it, but Arvada now has a brewing scene equal to any Denver-area town that is not Denver. One of the most underrated beer bars in the area sits just a five-minute walk from the first stop on the G Line. And the starting point of this excursion, Denver Union Station, sits in one of the most beer-friendly areas of downtown, even if you have only a short time to imbibe.
Here, then, is a beer-lovers' guide to the G Line — a trip I tried out myself during a birthday crawl of the new rail route that I organized last month.
Stop 1: Denver Union Station
There's too many options at the refurbished 19th-century train to list them all, but there are several key things to know. The Terminal Bar at the train station opens at 10 a.m. and has 30 taps that are dedicated solely to Colorado beers. Both the adjacent Hopdoddy Burger Bar and Thirsty Lion Gastropub are out-of-state chains but are replete with good beer and high-quality food starting at 11 a.m. And Wynkoop Brewing, just across the street from the station, has undergone a serious renaissance since John Sims took over as head brewer a few years ago and reintroduced serious experimentation to the 31-year-old brewpub.
Stop 2: 41st and Fox
The community surrounding this stop in north-central Denver remains in its nascent stages, but the Crafty Fox Taphouse & Pizzeria is literally a five-minute walk from the stop. The restaurant has a lengthy and excellent tap list (that's Weldwerks Juicy Bits in this photo from my birthday crawl) and is extremely family-friendly, with games and toys aplenty offered for kids. It's also got an impressive patio and is located next to a craft-heavy liquor store, Bogey's Beer and Wine, that will allow you the opportunity to take home a six-pack or bomber of many of the things you tasted next door.
(Note: I discovered after writing this post that Crafty Fox had closed less than two weeks beforehand. That's a loss not just for the G Line tour but for the Denver beer community. Let's hope another restaurant with good food and a good tap list can give it a shot at making this a great beer stop.)
Stop 3: Pecos Junction
Located near West 62nd and Pecos in unincorporated Adams County, the nearest businesses here are a truck- and tractor-part dealership, a self-storage facility and a garage. Bruz Beers (whose owners are pictured above) is a 20-minute walk up Pecos, though, and it's got an eclectic and improving selection of Belgian options, so if you really want to hit every stop on the line, have your Uber app ready and it will take you there. River North is a little further — 36 minutes by foot, though just five minutes by car, and its collection of hazy IPAs and liver-breaking 15% ABV Decennial series are worth spending the money on getting someone else to drive you around.
Stop 4: Clear Creek and Federal Station
While Adams County officials have some grand plans to make this an area to live, work and play — including possible features on the creek — you are currently out of luck at this stop around 60th and Federal, which is all industrial without a good beer in site. But give it time. And wave hello as you pass it by presently.
Stop 5: Arvada Gold Strike (60th and Sheridan)
Similar to Pecos Junction, this is an industrial zone. But Odyssey Beerwerks in Arvada is a 20-minute walk away, and new brewery operations director Chris Griffith - late of the closed Fate Brewing and its fantastic experiments in flavor — is ramping up the brewery's menu in exciting ways, including a chai version of its tasty Psycho Penguin Porter that took that beer to a new level. So why recommend this trip more vociferously than a similar one to Bruz on an RTD pub crawl? For this reason: Bruz, while it is a great brewery, is beyond the industrial zone surrounding its RTD stop in a residential community that is easily accessed by car. Odyssey, meanwhile, is almost buried in an industrial park that really speaks to where you are getting off here, and its inclusion in any pub crawl puts the neighborhoods of the new rail line in perspective.
Stop 6: Olde Town Arvada
You could take the G Line from Union Station to here and not leave, and you still have struck beer gold. Within a five-minute walk, you can stumble into New Image Brewing, whose collection of hazy IPAs and genre-pushing sours arguably puts it into the list of Colorado's 10-15 best breweries (and sports a great back patio, as seen in this photo). Denver Beer Co's suburban location, with its in-house burger trailer and range of Arvada-only beers, is a similar distance away. Do not, however, overlook, Homegrown Tap & Dough, an upscale pizza restaurant with a rewarding tap and bottle list that is literally a really strong stone's throw from the station (as opposed the 4-5 minutes you'll have to walk to get to the two breweries). And it's just an eight-minute walk down to Yak & Yeti, a Nepalese restaurant that also is home to Sun Temple Brewing and its daring beers, including its award-winning Chai Milk Stout.
Stop 7: Arvada Ridge
Adjacent to a shopping and dining area that features a lot of fast-casual chains, this stop just east of Kipling and Ridge Road in Arvada is probably more appropriate for a quick bite to calm your buzz if you are making this trip. But Li'l Nick's Pizza is just a six-minute walk from the station and has 14 beers on tap. And Discovery Tap House and its 28 beers are only an 11-minute walk, which, again, can be be rewarded with all kind of burgers, calzones or fast Chinese on the way back to the station.
Stop 8: Wheat Ridge - Ward Station
Like several of its brethren station on the G Line, this is not near beer oases just yet, though city leaders say they hope to build up a multi-use community around the stop that can feature restaurant and retail. But if you're willing to sit in a car for 10 minutes, you can get to either of the two Wheat Ridge breweries — Brewery Rickoli, which has taken the gluten-reduced taste profile in far-out directions, including a GABF-medal-winning barley wine and a lot of bold hoppy and sour flavors, and Colorado Plus, whose half-dozen in-house beers are supplemented by a tap list of 50-plus Colorado-only offerings, including some smaller breweries you won't find elsewhere. A trip to either place is well worth your time.
It's been two months now since the Regional Transportation District opened the G Line, extending from Wheat Ridge through Arvada and into Denver Union Station. Many people likely haven't experienced the ride yet. And that is a mistake — particularly from a beer perspective.
Urban dwellers may not realize it, but Arvada now has a brewing scene equal to any Denver-area town that is not Denver. One of the most underrated beer bars in the area sits just a five-minute walk from the first stop on the G Line. And the starting point of this excursion, Denver Union Station, sits in one of the most beer-friendly areas of downtown, even if you have only a short time to imbibe.
Here, then, is a beer-lovers' guide to the G Line — a trip I tried out myself during a birthday crawl of the new rail route that I organized last month.
Stop 1: Denver Union Station
Stop 2: 41st and Fox
(Note: I discovered after writing this post that Crafty Fox had closed less than two weeks beforehand. That's a loss not just for the G Line tour but for the Denver beer community. Let's hope another restaurant with good food and a good tap list can give it a shot at making this a great beer stop.)
Stop 3: Pecos Junction
Stop 4: Clear Creek and Federal Station
While Adams County officials have some grand plans to make this an area to live, work and play — including possible features on the creek — you are currently out of luck at this stop around 60th and Federal, which is all industrial without a good beer in site. But give it time. And wave hello as you pass it by presently.
Stop 5: Arvada Gold Strike (60th and Sheridan)
Similar to Pecos Junction, this is an industrial zone. But Odyssey Beerwerks in Arvada is a 20-minute walk away, and new brewery operations director Chris Griffith - late of the closed Fate Brewing and its fantastic experiments in flavor — is ramping up the brewery's menu in exciting ways, including a chai version of its tasty Psycho Penguin Porter that took that beer to a new level. So why recommend this trip more vociferously than a similar one to Bruz on an RTD pub crawl? For this reason: Bruz, while it is a great brewery, is beyond the industrial zone surrounding its RTD stop in a residential community that is easily accessed by car. Odyssey, meanwhile, is almost buried in an industrial park that really speaks to where you are getting off here, and its inclusion in any pub crawl puts the neighborhoods of the new rail line in perspective.
Stop 6: Olde Town Arvada
Stop 7: Arvada Ridge
Adjacent to a shopping and dining area that features a lot of fast-casual chains, this stop just east of Kipling and Ridge Road in Arvada is probably more appropriate for a quick bite to calm your buzz if you are making this trip. But Li'l Nick's Pizza is just a six-minute walk from the station and has 14 beers on tap. And Discovery Tap House and its 28 beers are only an 11-minute walk, which, again, can be be rewarded with all kind of burgers, calzones or fast Chinese on the way back to the station.Stop 8: Wheat Ridge - Ward Station
Like several of its brethren station on the G Line, this is not near beer oases just yet, though city leaders say they hope to build up a multi-use community around the stop that can feature restaurant and retail. But if you're willing to sit in a car for 10 minutes, you can get to either of the two Wheat Ridge breweries — Brewery Rickoli, which has taken the gluten-reduced taste profile in far-out directions, including a GABF-medal-winning barley wine and a lot of bold hoppy and sour flavors, and Colorado Plus, whose half-dozen in-house beers are supplemented by a tap list of 50-plus Colorado-only offerings, including some smaller breweries you won't find elsewhere. A trip to either place is well worth your time.
Labels: Arvada breweries, Brewery Rickoli, Bruz Beers, Colorado Plus Brew Pub, Crafty Fox, Denver Beer Co, Hopdoddy, New Image Brewing, Odyssey Beerwerks, Sun Temple Brewing, Thirsty Lion, Wynkoop Brewery
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Five Best Traditional Colorado Beers for Summer
Some say that summer is the acceptable time to break out "lawnmower" beers - lighter beers known for their drinkability rather than actual flavor. This thinking, however, is outdated and self-defeating.
These days, brewers throughout Colorado have found ways to take traditionally lighter beers and imbue them with big taste without losing the easiness to the body, giving you both craft quality and traditional quaffability in one can. And as the official start of summer approaches quickly, here are the five beers that do that best and will leave you both pleased and thirst-quenched, whether at the end of a hike or during an extended session on a porch.
1) Colorado Kolsch - Steamworks Brewing
This is refreshment defined in a craft beer. The easy-as-water body has both a satisfying fullness and crisp finish that features enough hops to register a bite without any feeling of citrus or pine. It will leave you both sated and satisfied.
2) Mama's Little Yella Pils - Oskar Blues
This is the rare pilsner that uses hops as a primary flavoring ingredient rather than as an afterthought. Yet they do not get in the way nor feel out of place. It's a smooth body with a gutsy finish, producing a lighter beer that just feels more purposeful than many other pilsners on the market.
3) Mexican Lager - Lone Tree Brewing
Too often, an overload of malts can make these traditional lagers feel awkward and heavy. But this is a beer that uses its ingredients judiciously, creating a flavor that is simple, subtly sweet and sharp enough at the finish to leave an impression. You've earned this after mowing a lawn, but you don't have to be hot and sweaty to appreciate its character.
4) 8 Second Kolsch - Elevation Beer Co.
Like Colorado Kolsch, this is refreshing first and foremost. But it has a big presence in your mouth, a combination of a smooth body with a little more hop crispness than one might expect. It's a unique melding that results in a beer that feels breezy but bites you here and there until you realize just how much you are enjoying it.
5) M.E.H. Cream Ale- Brewery Rickoli
This Wheat Ridge brewery, which caught the eye of Boston Beer early in its development, specializes more in boozy, complex ales than simple ones. But its cream ale is an undervalued secret of the local brewing scene, offering a terribly smooth and yet tasty body notable for its balance of malts that leaves it sippable but not overly sweet. And it's gluten-free, as a bonus.
Some say that summer is the acceptable time to break out "lawnmower" beers - lighter beers known for their drinkability rather than actual flavor. This thinking, however, is outdated and self-defeating.
These days, brewers throughout Colorado have found ways to take traditionally lighter beers and imbue them with big taste without losing the easiness to the body, giving you both craft quality and traditional quaffability in one can. And as the official start of summer approaches quickly, here are the five beers that do that best and will leave you both pleased and thirst-quenched, whether at the end of a hike or during an extended session on a porch.
1) Colorado Kolsch - Steamworks Brewing
This is refreshment defined in a craft beer. The easy-as-water body has both a satisfying fullness and crisp finish that features enough hops to register a bite without any feeling of citrus or pine. It will leave you both sated and satisfied.
2) Mama's Little Yella Pils - Oskar Blues
This is the rare pilsner that uses hops as a primary flavoring ingredient rather than as an afterthought. Yet they do not get in the way nor feel out of place. It's a smooth body with a gutsy finish, producing a lighter beer that just feels more purposeful than many other pilsners on the market.
3) Mexican Lager - Lone Tree Brewing
Too often, an overload of malts can make these traditional lagers feel awkward and heavy. But this is a beer that uses its ingredients judiciously, creating a flavor that is simple, subtly sweet and sharp enough at the finish to leave an impression. You've earned this after mowing a lawn, but you don't have to be hot and sweaty to appreciate its character.
4) 8 Second Kolsch - Elevation Beer Co.Like Colorado Kolsch, this is refreshing first and foremost. But it has a big presence in your mouth, a combination of a smooth body with a little more hop crispness than one might expect. It's a unique melding that results in a beer that feels breezy but bites you here and there until you realize just how much you are enjoying it.
5) M.E.H. Cream Ale- Brewery Rickoli
This Wheat Ridge brewery, which caught the eye of Boston Beer early in its development, specializes more in boozy, complex ales than simple ones. But its cream ale is an undervalued secret of the local brewing scene, offering a terribly smooth and yet tasty body notable for its balance of malts that leaves it sippable but not overly sweet. And it's gluten-free, as a bonus.
Labels: Brewery Rickoli, Elevation Beer, lager, Lone Tree Brewing, Oskar Blues, Steamworks Brewing, Summer beers
Thursday, August 03, 2017
Brewery Rickoli's American Dream
In an age when more breweries are pulling back on the idea of packaging beers and competing for retail space because of the high costs and heavy competition, Brewery Rickoli is getting a rare opportunity to go nationwide - for free.
The Wheat Ridge brewery's Oats McGoats, a gluten-reduced rye stout, is one of five beers from small companies that are part of Sam Adams' Brewing the American Dream 12-pack now available in liquor stores. Brewer Rick Abitbol got to be part of that group by winning the first-ever experienceship offered in 2013 by America's second-largest craft brewery, which gave him a chance to spend a week in Boston learning the finer points of the business and to continue to get advice up to this day.
But having Oats McGoats - a full-bodied offering that is the star of the five local beers in the 12-pack - get onto the national stage may be the biggest benefit yet from the association with Boston Beer, even considering the experienceship already helped Abitbol scale up to his current three-barrel system. The publicity is driving more people to his taproom on Wadsworth Boulevard, and it comes as Brewery Rickoli is trying to add to the 65 current liquor stores that carry its hand-bottled bombers.
"I can't even describe it. It's exposure that we couldn't obtain on our own," Abitbol said last week at a shark-tank style event in Denver where Boston Beer officials awarded $10,000 to a local coffee company before offering speed coaching to local brewers and other entrepreneurs. "And having Sam Adams behind us ... that's all it takes for us to have a lot of people come by the taproom and see how far we've come."
This 12-pack - which also features small breweries from New Mexico, New York and California - will help more than just the five beer makers who get their faces on the labels of those bottles, however. All of the profits go to Accion, a national micro-finance organization that focuses on entrepreneurs with limited or no access to bank credit, a group that includes brewers trying to start their business or take it to the next level.
The company got into a broader partnership with Sam Adams several years ago, though many of the breweries it has helped out are located in Colorado and in New Mexico, from which president and CEO Anne Haines hails. It looks at a variety of criteria when deciding who gets loans ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars, but the biggest factor in deciding who gets help is the intangibles of the entrepreneur rather than their bottom line, she said.
"First and foremost, we are looking to people whose dream is on the line," Haines said, noting that seven different Colorado breweries are among the firm's many food- and drink-business clients. "We look for passion, commitment, determination."
It's a lot easier to get a loan these days to start or grow a brewery than it was 25 years ago, when no one yet understood the craft-beer model or how it was going to become such a vital part of community drinking. But to see such a large craft brewery like Sam Adams helping out its nascent competition and using its resources to link them to a company that will help them get new levels of attention says something powerful about the spirit of the craft-brewing industry.
"They're all small, local brewers, so the exposure for them is fantastic," said Jennifer Glanville, head brewer for Boston Beer. "To me, this has been the most exciting collaboration we've ever done."
The Wheat Ridge brewery's Oats McGoats, a gluten-reduced rye stout, is one of five beers from small companies that are part of Sam Adams' Brewing the American Dream 12-pack now available in liquor stores. Brewer Rick Abitbol got to be part of that group by winning the first-ever experienceship offered in 2013 by America's second-largest craft brewery, which gave him a chance to spend a week in Boston learning the finer points of the business and to continue to get advice up to this day.
But having Oats McGoats - a full-bodied offering that is the star of the five local beers in the 12-pack - get onto the national stage may be the biggest benefit yet from the association with Boston Beer, even considering the experienceship already helped Abitbol scale up to his current three-barrel system. The publicity is driving more people to his taproom on Wadsworth Boulevard, and it comes as Brewery Rickoli is trying to add to the 65 current liquor stores that carry its hand-bottled bombers."I can't even describe it. It's exposure that we couldn't obtain on our own," Abitbol said last week at a shark-tank style event in Denver where Boston Beer officials awarded $10,000 to a local coffee company before offering speed coaching to local brewers and other entrepreneurs. "And having Sam Adams behind us ... that's all it takes for us to have a lot of people come by the taproom and see how far we've come."
This 12-pack - which also features small breweries from New Mexico, New York and California - will help more than just the five beer makers who get their faces on the labels of those bottles, however. All of the profits go to Accion, a national micro-finance organization that focuses on entrepreneurs with limited or no access to bank credit, a group that includes brewers trying to start their business or take it to the next level.
The company got into a broader partnership with Sam Adams several years ago, though many of the breweries it has helped out are located in Colorado and in New Mexico, from which president and CEO Anne Haines hails. It looks at a variety of criteria when deciding who gets loans ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars, but the biggest factor in deciding who gets help is the intangibles of the entrepreneur rather than their bottom line, she said.
"First and foremost, we are looking to people whose dream is on the line," Haines said, noting that seven different Colorado breweries are among the firm's many food- and drink-business clients. "We look for passion, commitment, determination."
It's a lot easier to get a loan these days to start or grow a brewery than it was 25 years ago, when no one yet understood the craft-beer model or how it was going to become such a vital part of community drinking. But to see such a large craft brewery like Sam Adams helping out its nascent competition and using its resources to link them to a company that will help them get new levels of attention says something powerful about the spirit of the craft-brewing industry.
"They're all small, local brewers, so the exposure for them is fantastic," said Jennifer Glanville, head brewer for Boston Beer. "To me, this has been the most exciting collaboration we've ever done."
Labels: Accion, Boston Beer Co., Brewery Rickoli, Gluten-free beer, stouts
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Toasting the Beers of Summer 2014
As hard as our current weather makes it seem to believe, summer officially ends Monday. And so, it is with a tear in my eye and a buzzy smile on my face that I give a last shout to the best beers of the summer of 2014 and a few bold ideas that just missed — hoping that drinkers can pick up some of the last of the offerings of this season and start lobbying brewers on what to bring back next year.
The Winners
FOCOllaboration Ale
Maybe it should come as no shock that when New Belgium and Odell combined to make an beer, their union produced a stunningly good American pale ale — one that brought a big, grassy hop taste with almost no residual bitterness. The only surprise was that I had so many people asking me which brewery's version I tasted; it was the Odell product, and that one at least was great.
Super Juice Solution
Trinity Brewing's sour session IPA was easily the most interesting beer of the summer. It was head-scratching in both its complexity and in how much flavor it could pack into so little ABV. The best news: It's still out there on liquor-store shelves.
Franklin's Belgian-Style Strong Golden
Mountain Sun's big-bodied offering was both smooth and surprisingly alcoholic, sweet and solidly clean. And it served as a reminder that a brewery known best for its stouts and IPAs can do some pretty impressive things in other styles as well.
Oats McGoats Oat Malt Rye Stout
Brewery Rickoli won a national "Brewing the American Dream" competition last year that allowed it to learn from and then make a beer with Boston Beer Co. What came from that was the young brewery's best effort yet - a thick, dark ale with a creamy center that combines both warming malt with easy drinking and resembles no gluten-reduced beer that you have tried before.
Barefoot Runaway
Odd 13's summer IPA was a great example of how to tone down the hops but make a beer smooth and light and appropriate for the weather. At 5.6% ABV, it was the right beer for the right time; if this had come out in the winter, it would have seemed too light.
Heyday
As usual, Great Divide put out some seriously challenging seaonsals, including a sharp rye IPA and the always burly Oatmeal Yeti. But the summer star was a Belgian white ale that came with just a hint of orange zest and was as good a patio sipper as any new creation.
Honorable Mentions
Spontaneous Saison
Strange Craft Beer and five other breweries participated in an experiment by where they all brewed saisons with similar recipes but slightly different additives at the same time. Loved the idea. And the lemongrass backtones make Strange's offering spunky, though a bit short of spectacular.
Buddha's Hand Witbier
Breckenridge Brewery's experimentation created one of the most interesting summer beers of the past half-decade in 2011: The Cabernet-barrel-aged Summer Cab Ride. This year's new creation, made with the Buddha's Hand fruit, is mundane in comparison to that masterpiece - admittedly a high bar to reach - but zingier than most of the summertime ales on the market.
As hard as our current weather makes it seem to believe, summer officially ends Monday. And so, it is with a tear in my eye and a buzzy smile on my face that I give a last shout to the best beers of the summer of 2014 and a few bold ideas that just missed — hoping that drinkers can pick up some of the last of the offerings of this season and start lobbying brewers on what to bring back next year.
The Winners
Maybe it should come as no shock that when New Belgium and Odell combined to make an beer, their union produced a stunningly good American pale ale — one that brought a big, grassy hop taste with almost no residual bitterness. The only surprise was that I had so many people asking me which brewery's version I tasted; it was the Odell product, and that one at least was great.
Super Juice Solution
Trinity Brewing's sour session IPA was easily the most interesting beer of the summer. It was head-scratching in both its complexity and in how much flavor it could pack into so little ABV. The best news: It's still out there on liquor-store shelves.
Franklin's Belgian-Style Strong Golden
Mountain Sun's big-bodied offering was both smooth and surprisingly alcoholic, sweet and solidly clean. And it served as a reminder that a brewery known best for its stouts and IPAs can do some pretty impressive things in other styles as well.
Oats McGoats Oat Malt Rye Stout
Brewery Rickoli won a national "Brewing the American Dream" competition last year that allowed it to learn from and then make a beer with Boston Beer Co. What came from that was the young brewery's best effort yet - a thick, dark ale with a creamy center that combines both warming malt with easy drinking and resembles no gluten-reduced beer that you have tried before.
Barefoot Runaway
Odd 13's summer IPA was a great example of how to tone down the hops but make a beer smooth and light and appropriate for the weather. At 5.6% ABV, it was the right beer for the right time; if this had come out in the winter, it would have seemed too light.
Heyday
As usual, Great Divide put out some seriously challenging seaonsals, including a sharp rye IPA and the always burly Oatmeal Yeti. But the summer star was a Belgian white ale that came with just a hint of orange zest and was as good a patio sipper as any new creation.
Honorable Mentions
Spontaneous Saison
Strange Craft Beer and five other breweries participated in an experiment by where they all brewed saisons with similar recipes but slightly different additives at the same time. Loved the idea. And the lemongrass backtones make Strange's offering spunky, though a bit short of spectacular.
Breckenridge Brewery's experimentation created one of the most interesting summer beers of the past half-decade in 2011: The Cabernet-barrel-aged Summer Cab Ride. This year's new creation, made with the Buddha's Hand fruit, is mundane in comparison to that masterpiece - admittedly a high bar to reach - but zingier than most of the summertime ales on the market.
Labels: Boston Beer Co., Breckenridge Brewery, Brewery Rickoli, Great Divide, Mountain Sun, New Belgium Brewing, Odd 13 Brewing, Odell Brewing, Strange Brewing, Summer beers, Trinity Brewing
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
The New Shades of Gluten Free
There is some controversy in the world of gluten-free beer. Where in the past the only gluten-free breweries were those that used barley alternatives like sorghum and millet, several breweries now have begun using typical ingredients to create the beer while adding an enzyme to break down the binding properties of gluten. That, they tell you, makes the beer safe for the gluten-intolerant to enjoy.
Not being a scientist, I won't try to break down the scientific argument here. But after consuming both old-school gluten-free beers and this new version of what some would call gluten-free beverages in recent weeks, I can tell you there is a world of difference in the taste. And it's enough to make drinkers re-think their ideas of what "gluten-free" means.
To see this locally, one needs to go to Brewery Rickoli, a roughly 1-year-old Wheat Ridge beer maker that doesn't openly advertise itself as using the new gluten-breaking enzyme. This is important, because drinkers likely wouldn't look at the variety of beers brewer Rick Abitbol makes and think of them as a gluten-free lineup. There are numerous hop bombs, including a 13 percent ABV triple IPA that is deceptively easy-drinking. There is the Thrilla in Vanilla vanilla rye stout that, while coming off a little flat, is packed full of dark and sweet flavors. And the brewery whose motto is that it makes gluten-free beers "that don't suck" is making waves.
Then there is Omission IPA, a beer that Craft Brewers Alliance took national on Aug. 5. Made with the same enzyme as Brewery Rickoli uses, it's not likely to replace any hugely grassy or citrus IPAs in your rotation. But it has an ever-present hop feel (think of it like a strong pale ale) and, as CBA innovation brand manager Lorin Gelfand told me, it's a beer that you can take to a party and have both the gluten-tolerant and the gluten-intolerant enjoy.
But while these new styles of gluten-reducing beers may remind people less of the old sorghum-substitute gluten-free beers, there is concern they may not be gluten-reduced enough to protect people, especially those with Celiac Disease. Peter Archer, marketing manager at New Planet Beer of Boulder, noted to me that his is still the only gluten-free brewery in Colorado, according to federal designation. The enzyme that's becoming more popular has only earned gluten-free status when it comes to food, not beer, he noted. And he's worried that people can be misled.
And the truth is, you really can tell the difference in taste. New Planet's new Brown Ale, for example, hits you with a mouthful of sweet molasses, but as you run it over your taste buds, you can feel that plastic aftertaste that comes with a sorghum beer; it's a good effort to approximate the regular taste of beer, but one that won't make the gluten-tolerant forget its difference. And the company's Belgian Ale, similarly made with sorghum and brown rice extract, hits you even more with a mouthfeel of cellophane, unfortunately dwarfing the prototypical Belgian spice and yeast flavors in a way that was commented on by everyone in the Fearless Tasting Crew who sampled it. It's a shame, because I knew in talking to Archer how much the company - which is wildly successful - is looking to make a craft beer that appeals to everyone. But the palate doesn't lie.
So, are we entering a new era in gluten-free beer, or is there a new crop of gluten-reduced beers masquerading as a safe alternative for the gluten-intolerant? I don't know. But I can tell you as a beer drinker that there is a major gulf in taste between the two. And that gulf is likely to remain the difference between acceptance by a specific group of drinkers and by the general drinking population.
There is some controversy in the world of gluten-free beer. Where in the past the only gluten-free breweries were those that used barley alternatives like sorghum and millet, several breweries now have begun using typical ingredients to create the beer while adding an enzyme to break down the binding properties of gluten. That, they tell you, makes the beer safe for the gluten-intolerant to enjoy.
Not being a scientist, I won't try to break down the scientific argument here. But after consuming both old-school gluten-free beers and this new version of what some would call gluten-free beverages in recent weeks, I can tell you there is a world of difference in the taste. And it's enough to make drinkers re-think their ideas of what "gluten-free" means.
But while these new styles of gluten-reducing beers may remind people less of the old sorghum-substitute gluten-free beers, there is concern they may not be gluten-reduced enough to protect people, especially those with Celiac Disease. Peter Archer, marketing manager at New Planet Beer of Boulder, noted to me that his is still the only gluten-free brewery in Colorado, according to federal designation. The enzyme that's becoming more popular has only earned gluten-free status when it comes to food, not beer, he noted. And he's worried that people can be misled.
And the truth is, you really can tell the difference in taste. New Planet's new Brown Ale, for example, hits you with a mouthful of sweet molasses, but as you run it over your taste buds, you can feel that plastic aftertaste that comes with a sorghum beer; it's a good effort to approximate the regular taste of beer, but one that won't make the gluten-tolerant forget its difference. And the company's Belgian Ale, similarly made with sorghum and brown rice extract, hits you even more with a mouthfeel of cellophane, unfortunately dwarfing the prototypical Belgian spice and yeast flavors in a way that was commented on by everyone in the Fearless Tasting Crew who sampled it. It's a shame, because I knew in talking to Archer how much the company - which is wildly successful - is looking to make a craft beer that appeals to everyone. But the palate doesn't lie.So, are we entering a new era in gluten-free beer, or is there a new crop of gluten-reduced beers masquerading as a safe alternative for the gluten-intolerant? I don't know. But I can tell you as a beer drinker that there is a major gulf in taste between the two. And that gulf is likely to remain the difference between acceptance by a specific group of drinkers and by the general drinking population.
Labels: Brewery Rickoli, Craft Brewers Alliance, Gluten-free beer, New Planet Beer
